Mumbai (PTI): Expecting the forthcoming Union Budget to lay emphasis on infrastructure in line with the Railway Budget, Cement Manufacturers' Association (CMA) has called for the rationalisation of VAT on cement on par with other commodities.

"I believe that in line with the Railway Budget, the Union Budget too would lay a lot of emphasis on the infrastructure sector. This will certainly help the cement industry," Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) President, H M Bangur, told PTI here.

In order to bring back the industry to good health, .

"we want an alignment of VAT on cement to be in line with steel and charging of royalty on limestone in line with iron ore," he said.

An ACC Ltd spokesperson added that the Government should bring down the import duty on coal, pet coke and gypsum to zero-level, since these were not sufficiently available within the country to meet the requirements.

"There is no import duty on the import of finished products. Why then should we have to pay import duty on raw materials when this is not sufficiently available domestically?" he asked.

CMA asked for restoration of import duty on cement and supply of fly ash to cement industry free of cost.